At least 48 players have so far confirmed their participation at the Tony’s Badminton Cup tournament, which is scheduled to start on Sundau in Dar es Salaam.
The tournament organiser Tony Desouza told the ‘Daily News on Saturday’ yesterday that preparations for a fourday tournament are in the final stages. Desouza said that due to the several reasons the tournament will be held at one court –the Khalsa Sports Club of Dar es Salaam.
He said that to start with, the event will run for two days before taking one day break to give players time with their families to celebrate Eid el Fitr. The tournament will resume immediately after Eid break and will run for two days. “We are happy that everything is going as planned so far.
We have received 16 entries for singles competition, while 22 will battle it out for the doubles,” said Desouza. He said this tournament will be open to all aged players.
However, he added that the response from ladies was not encouraging so they decide to postpone the category. He said they will arrange the ladies tournament during the ‘Nane Nane’ holiday on 8th August this year.
“It is pity that we did not get good response from ladies but we will not sit back, we are planning to stage the tournament for them during Nane Nane celebrations and hope this time around, they will not let us down,” he said.
Desouza took his time to encourage ladies to come forward and engage themselves in the sport, saying it was good for their health. He said that due to the missing out of ladies, the mix doubles category will automatically be cancelled.
By MBONILE BURTON, Tanzania Daily News